“Top, top” Sydie Peck repaying “huge” Sheffield United trust amid mouthwatering Oliver Arblaster proposition

Sydie Peck’s superb debut season in senior football continued over the international break when the Sheffield United youngster snatched a dramatic draw for England’s Elite Squad against Switzerland in Marbella. Ben Futcher’s young Lions went into the game undefeated in 2024/25 but that streak looked under serious threat with Switzerland leading 2-1 as the clock ticked over 90 minutes.

But Peck kept his composure in the box as a corner was cleared to him and after getting the ball out of his feet, he poked a finish past the Swiss goalkeeper and a defender on the line to salvage a draw. Peck had earlier replaced James McConnell of Liverpool on the hour mark and subsequently returned to England to report back to Shirecliffe ahead of United’s Championship clash with Coventry City.

The 20-year-old former Arsenal man only made his full debut for the Blades earlier this season but has seized the opportunity created by an unfortunate season-ending injury to fellow academy graduate Oliver Arblaster. Peck has impressed Unitedites with both his industry and his invention, helping set up Rhian Brewster’s winning goal in the Steel City derby against Wednesday before the international break with a lovely pirouette turn before finding Tyrese Campbell.

While Arblaster attracted a lot of attention after a superb breakthrough in the second half of last season, which saw him captain the Blades against opposition such as Manchester United after being recalled from his loan spell at Port Vale, Peck was forced to watch on from the sidelines - no doubt pleased for his teammate but probably, and understandably, a little envious as well.

But he has emerged from the shadows now, with the mouthwatering prospect of the homegrown pair - Peck began at Arsenal but United’s academy has polished up some of his rougher edges - potentially playing together in the United midfield for years to come.

“You can see in the academy how good it really is,” said Arblaster recently when asked about Peck’s emergence. “We knew we'd have players coming through and he's done really well. I think he's a top, top player. He's come in from Arsenal and I think he's really good. We push each other on the pitch, in training we have our little battles but off the pitch we get on and we're good mates. He's doing really well and I'm really happy he is.”

Peck is expected to make what would be only his 36th league start in Friday night’s eagerly-anticipated clash against Frank Lampard’s Coventry, who travel to Bramall Lane fifth in the table having been floundering deep in the bottom half when the former England international was appointed as Mark Robins’ replacement last year.

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Speaking before the international break, Wilder described Peck’s latest England call as “fully deserved,” adding: “I always talk about it, we’re pro sending our players to play for their countries, and we’ve had our fair share over the few years that I’ve been here. I’m absolutely delighted for Sydie, his performances have been outstanding. We’ve talked before about him and his development, and his introduction to the first team and how he’s took his chance. It can only make him a better player, by going away and and playing in different environments against a different calibre of players.

“He was patient, he was patient last year. His attitude has always been first class and when that opportunity opens up for him to produce really good performances, generally his performances have been absolutely spot on. They need to be, to play in our team. It’s an important part of the pitch in terms of how we build and how we connect, and he’s deservedly got a call for his country.”

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Peck ironically first earned a call-up to the England Elite set-up - formerly the U20 age-group - as a replacement for Arblaster after his season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, and scored a goal and created another in a 4-0 debut victory against Germany just down the road at Chesterfield.

Sydie Peck and Oliver Arblaster’s “friendly rivalry”

“It’s a friendly rivalry,” Wilder added. “They’re both employed by Sheff United, they’re both our players - my players - and they pushing each other, as as all of the players are in the group. Players that are out the team at the moment are pushing the boys in the team, to make sure that their performances are spot on. So we’ve got a good competition. The competition in the middle of the park has been intense. Bringing Hamza [Choudhury] in, with Vini [Souza], with Sydie, with Blaster at the start of the season.

“You never know with young players; you just give them the opportunity. We’d have never known regarding Blaster if we hadn’t given him an opportunity last year and you saw his progression and how he handled playing in the Premier League. Even though it was an incredibly disappointing season and a difficult situation for a young player to go into.

“But I made him captain at Old Trafford, so my trust in the young players is huge and our academy is absolutely outstanding. We’ve talked about it in terms of how good it is locally and dominating the area, which was the first thing that I wanted to do when I first came in back in 2016. I had history here, of course, knowing the city and how we’ve always produced a lot of good young players.

“Sometimes, they were playing for other clubs. So to bring them back, to dominate, to get those players through, it’s been incredible work and I’ve been consistent with my narrative on how good our academy’s been. It’s always producing players, and we’ll continue to do that.”